BREC to begin treatment plan to battle vegetation at City Park Lake

(Source: WAFB)

May 5, 2020 at 4:47 PM CDT - Updated May 5 at 4:49 PM

The following information is from BREC:

East Baton Rouge Parish - To prevent a worsening outbreak of algae blooms at City Park Lake this summer, BREC will apply a series of herbicide treatments to the lake between May and July 1st. The mild winter and warm spring resulted in minimal dieback and warm water temperatures will lead to increased blooms this summer. Although BREC was hoping to hold off on chemical treatment until absolutely necessary, it is believed this is the best move for the health of the lake through the summer and to assist the sterile carp with removing vegetation below the lake’s surface. This is a temporary solution to increase aesthetics and lake health until the dredging project can begin.

The proposed plan will address the emergent vegetation along the edge of the lake to create a division between the lake and bank. It will then use a series of herbicides to treat the algae and the invasive coon tail within the lake with treatments taking place once every week to ten days. Treatments will be applied in very small areas in an attempt to prevent a reduction in dissolved oxygen from vegetation decay which could impact the fish population.

The herbicides being used are designed for aquatic treatments and are labeled as safe for humans and wildlife. Every precaution is being taken to ensure the existing fish population remains healthy and if at any point dissolved oxygen becomes too low, or the treatments are deemed too risky, they will be stopped. For this reason, treatments will not take place between July 1 and September 30 due to high summer temperatures and an increased risk to fish populations. BREC staff will evaluate the results weekly to assess treatment outcomes and determine if they will continue.

“The planning efforts to dredge all lakes in the City-Brooks Community Park and LSU system will continue and, in the future, this project will solve the underlying issues causing the blooms. BREC is acting now to stop another widespread algae outbreak this summer to protect the ecosystem and prevent the unsightly growth on the lake,” said BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson. “This is a last resort as we try to avoid the use of chemicals wherever possible, but in this case, we feel it is our best option. We will be conservative in our treatments but move proactively to prevent a worsening problem before it happens,” said Wilson.

As a safety precaution, the public will need to remain 100’ away from the area being treated. This multi-dimensional approach is a cost-effective method that will attack the algae and remove a portion of the coon tail which is also impacting the PH levels of the water, while not causing environmental concerns.

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